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Marlinspike: Does Tintin live there?

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jock123
Moderator
#11 · Posted: 11 Oct 2005 17:03
John Sewell
He must have been grateful to be able to get away to the relative seclusion of Marlinspike!
…and the hordes of motor-enthusiasts, insurance salesmen (and brood), Middle-Eastern potentates, operatic divas and their retinues, plus paperazzi, spies, assassins and whatnot - not to mention the constant crossed-lines and mis-placed ’phone calls to/from Cutts the butcher…

…bliss, eh?!
theone
Member
#12 · Posted: 12 Oct 2005 02:16
from Cutts the butcher…

To be fair, Cutts the butcher never actually calls them =P
varun0883
Member
#13 · Posted: 18 Apr 2007 13:56
Moved from another thread:

I was going through Seven Crystal Balls; suddenly Tintin rushes to Marlinspike after hearing the news on the radio.
Now when did Tintin finally move out to Marlispike from his old flat?
We see in many scenes his old flat is shown even as Prof. Calculus stayed with Captain in Marlinspike after Red Rackham's Treasure episode.
mondrian
Member
#14 · Posted: 18 Apr 2007 14:36
Nobody knows the exact date, as the discussion shows.
pokemon
Member
#15 · Posted: 30 Jun 2007 10:41
He moved to the castle after The Land of Black Gold.
Mark Falconer
Member
#16 · Posted: 30 Jun 2007 22:07
This can be somewhat easily chronologically determined:

Red Rackham's Treasure: Haddock buys Marlinspike.
Seven Crystal Balls: Haddock mentions he'll drop Tintin off on his way home. Calculus is living with Haddock by now, and possibly has since Haddock moved in.
Land of Black Gold: Haddock rings Tintin up to tell him he'll be gone for a while.
Destination Moon: Tintin and Haddock come back from presumably the Middle East but immediately rush off. Tintin is not necessarily living with Haddock now, as it is probably just a stopping point on the way to his apartment (or flat...)
The Calculus Affair: Tintin spends an evening and a night with Haddock. He has not necessarily moved in yet.
Red Sea Sharks: Tintin says "We'd best be getting home to Marlinspike" and looks fairly comfortable in the house, however it still possibly could be an extended visit.
Tibet: Mail is forwarded from Labrador Road to Marlinspike, showing that Tintin's primary address is now with Haddock.
Cigars: Snowy would "settle for Marlinspike", rather than undertake the cruise.
Balthazar
Moderator
#17 · Posted: 30 Jun 2007 23:26
Mark Falconer
Calculus is living with Haddock by now, and possibly has since Haddock moved in.

Don't forget it's Calculus's money which buys Marlinspike. Admittedly, he implies he's buying it as a gift for for Haddock ("Come on, we're going to buy your mansion."), but I think it's always Calculus's home as much as the captain's.

I agree with your analysis of Tintin's possible moving in date, ie: maybe anytime after the start Destination Moon and fairly conclusively by the start of Tibet.

But I'm sure that Snowy's reference of Marlinspike in Cigars is definitely an anachronism put in by the English translators (put in because Methuen were publishing that book after the ones where Tintin has moved to Marlinspike). It's not in the French language version of Cigars.

Even if this weren't the case, your theory that Snowy's remark in Cigars could be a reference merely to the village area of Marlinspike doesn't really convince me, because this would imply that Tintin and Snowy knew the area around Marlinspike village well at the time of this pre-Markinspike Hall adventure, which doesn't seem to be the case when Tiintin and Snowy end up there in Unicorn. In his desperate phone call to the captain, Tintin doesn't say, "Marlinspike Hall - you know: near Marlinspike village, that favourite place of ours for dog walks that Snowy's alway's pining to go to when we're on Mediterranean cruises."
;-)
Shivam302001
Member
#18 · Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:14
In Tintin in Tibet, Chang's letter got forwarded from Labrador Road to Marlinspike Hall in the care of Captain Haddock.
Moreover, all of Tintin's letters was posted to Marlinspike Hall in The Castafiore Emerald.

So, either he is staying in Marlinspike for a really extended period of time(apparently for no reason) or he has moved his lodgings to Marlinspike (also apparently for no reason).

Since apparently no reason as to why it should be any one of them has been given, and we are only left to surmise (maybe Herge wanted it? ;-) ) I prefer the latter option (also apparently for no reason except that people usually stay at one place at a given time and there was apparently no reason for Tintin to continue to pay his taxes in Labrador Road when there was Marlinspike Hall with room to spare).

Now if he did move his lodgings to Marlinspike, when did he do so?

The Calculus Affair immediately springs to mind maybe because Tintin was seen in this album as residing in Marlinspike Hall for the first time but other than that there is apparently no reason as to why it should be so. Maybe the extended visit got turned into permanent lodgings for Tintin.

So it is left to the better judgement of the readers as to decide on this aspect of the story apparently for no reason at all.

P.S. A point in favour of an extended visit (albeit with a slight paradox) is that Tintin asked for the carpenter in The Castafiore Emerald which I believe he should have known if he had got permanent lodgings there and which he should not know if he just recently moved into Marlinspike.
In any case, neither of them had apparently no reason to Captain Haddock at that instant I am sure.
P.P.S Sorry if I suddenly bumped off this long-ago thread apparently for no reason at all.
mct16
Member
#19 · Posted: 11 Oct 2018 13:19
Shivam302001:
he has moved his lodgings to Marlinspike (also apparently for no reason).

A good reason would have been at Haddock's invitation. Haddock would have felt a bit lonely at Marlinspike with just a butler and a scientist who were busy with their work, too occupied - and in one case too deaf - to hold a decent conversation with.

Tintin, on the other hand, is the kind of companion with whom he could go on long walks (as shown in "Calculus Affair" and "Emerald") and chat with.

Shivam302001:
In Tintin in Tibet, Chang's letter got forwarded from Labrador Road to Marlinspike Hall in the care of Captain Haddock.

It strikes me that Tintin and Chang (much like Herge and the real Chang) drifted out of touch. When they parted in Shangai in "Lotus" Tintin would have given Chang his address in Europe but after a few letters they stopped communicating. (This is a period when letters sent overseas took a long time getting to destination - if at all - and long-distance phone calls were expensive - and, of course, there was no internet...)

When Tintin gets the letter from Chang he at first wonders who could be writing to him from Hong Kong and the fact that the letter was sent to his town address shows how out-of-touch he and Chang had become.

(I've always suspected that Chang and his adoptive family - who are quite wealthy - moved to Hong Kong - then a British possession - following the Communist takeover of China in 1949.)

The stories set from "Calculus Affair" onwards give no indication that Tintin was living in both Labrador Road and Marlinspike. It is perfectly logical that, at Haddock's invitation, he would have left his town flat and moved permanently to Marlinspike.

Shivam302001:
Moreover, all of Tintin's letters was posted to Marlinspike Hall in The Castafiore Emerald...
P.S. A point in favour of an extended visit (albeit with a slight paradox) is that Tintin asked for the carpenter in The Castafiore Emerald which I believe he should have known if he had got permanent lodgings there

I do not quite recall these scenes. When do they take place?
jock123
Moderator
#20 · Posted: 12 Oct 2018 13:53
Shivam302001:
either he is staying in Marlinspike for a really extended period of time(apparently for no reason) or he has moved his lodgings to Marlinspike

I think that most of this reiterates points raised elsewhere, none of which actually provides an answer or evidence that is conclusive.

For example, I think that if Marlinspike/ Moulinsart is in the same relation to Brussels as its real-life model of Sart-Moulin, then it is but a short train-ride or bus journey from the city.

Hergé knew Sart-Moulin because of trips made with his father, when he went to visit his boss at the country house he used in the summer to give him updates on the business he owned. The boss had a place in Brussels too.
Likewise, Hergé's beloved place at Céroux-Mousty provided a tranquil repose away from his home in the city, but it wasn't a replacement, it was an alternative away from the hustle and bustle.

Tintin may have spent long periods at Marlinspike, and may have even arranged for Mrs Finch or his office to forward mail, without ever actually moving there. People (other than Chang, who as MCT16 points out, was out of touch) may have known where to reach him at different times of the year. I mean, Tintin was holding down a job at the magazine that bore his name during these years - it would seem convenient for him to have a pied-à-terre so that he didn't have to slog back to the country after a late night editing... ;-)

I think that MCT16's point that Tintin might feel that the Captain was lonely would also be a good reason to visit for extended period, but as both Tintin and Haddock do do things separately (Picaros springs to mind), showing that they can manage independent living, I don't see that as evidence for where he lived permanently.

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